LUMBERTON, NC (WBTW) – The state of North Carolina has given out $154 million dollars in federal assistance after Hurricane Matthew.
The money is dispersed from Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration and National Flood Insurance.
In Robeson County the state dispersed more than $20 million dollars.
FEMA Public Information Officer Rita Egan says they expect the number of applications in Robeson County to go up, because more than 140 people have come to the disaster recovery center each day.
“Our number continues to go up, maybe a thousand per day,” said Egan.
More than 17,000 people in Robeson County have applied for federal assistance.
“If you received a termination letter and you were found to be ineligible that’s again a wonderful reason to come in and ask why,” mentioned Egan.
Small Business Administration Spokesperson Gary Colton says it’s better to apply now than later.
“The holidays are going to start getting in the way of peoples’ thinking about recovery for the next month and then all of a sudden it’s going to be past January 9th ,” said Colton.
“Yes, now they’re getting to the point of where more people are calling and they may have found out their insurance didn’t cover everything,” said Egan.
That’s why experts in the disaster recovery center are willing to help.
“It can be something as simple as we’re waiting for a letter from your insurance company to determine what was covered and what was not,” Egan said.
Egan says though the city has come a long way in the past three weeks in terms of assistance for flood victims they still have a long way to go.
“The levels of sand on the main strip was highly unusual and now you see the main roads and businesses are opening again. The community is pulling together. There are still issues and there will be issues because to recover from an event like this is a long and hard process,” Egan explained.
The FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Lumberton is located at the old Kmart shopping center 2750 North Roberts Avenue Lumberton, NC.
The recovery center will reflect new operational hours effective Saturday, Nov. 26, the new hours will be Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. until further notice.
